Thursday, July 31, 2014

Slider always gets me out of town. She always gets me to where I want to be, and then usually she goes one way and I
head the other.This time I wanted to go
on Interstate 80, east toward Mineola, Texas, and then angle up on 37 to a
place called De Queen, Arkansas.It’s
because my friends encourage me to behave badly.So, a photo op was in order.

Sometimes your plans don’t always
work out the way you think they will.I
stopped along the road to double check my map and my bike wouldn’t start when I
got back on.Crap!!!

A bike going the other direction
asked me with the thumb’s up if I was okay.I signaled with the thumb’s down and he came around.His name was Gary and he was on his way to
work.He pulled the fuse panel, but
nothing going on there.He couldn’t help
me.

While Gary was there and I was
trying to call Roadside Assistance, a mobile repair unit pulled in behind
us.The guy got out and turns out while
he works on trucks, trailers and refrigeration units, he also does some
motorcycle work.He figured it was the
battery so I unloaded my bike and he finally got it jump started.I reloaded everything back on it.What a guy.Turns out he is a prospect for the Bandidos MC.He was very kind and respectful to me and I
think he respected his wife as that’s what he called her … no derogatory
names.He also would not accept any payment,
and just said I was a biker and that we should help each other.I politely asked if I could take his
photo.It didn’t hurt that he was quite
easy on the eyes.(Yep, I still have
eyes, and they’re good ones.)If you
want more information on this organization, Google it.I did.

My first guardian angel for the day.

Off I rode heading to Tyler,
Texas, and the Harley shop.In trying to get to I-20, I got challenged
big-time directionally and just flat could not find it … construction, bad directions.I stopped to check my phone GPS and made the
mistake of putting down the kickstand without the bike first being in
neutral.On a Police bike, that’s the
signal to shut it down.And shut down it
did … with no restart in sight.I got
off the bike and just threw up my hands while thinking “that was stupid,” along with a few other choice words.

A pickup truck with a
not-so-young, not-so-old gentleman immediately pulled up and asked if I was
okay.Nope, sure not.He had jumpers.Once again I unloaded my bike, sweating,
drops of sweat streaming down my face into my eyes and stinging me to tears,
down my back and my front … I was soaking wet.Ugh!!!But once again we got the
bike started and he gave me the proper directions (that worked) to get to I-20.He would not accept any money either.WOW!!!What nice folks I’ve run into.(Yes, I know there are not-so-nice ones out there, too, but I am
pure-of-heart-mostly, and am living a charmed life.I also try to be very aware.)Another lady stopped as well.Yep, I’m good now.Thank you very much.

Off I went to Tyler.My battery test showed it as DEAD, DEAD,
DEADER THAN DEAD.Did I tell you it was
DEAD?A half hour to 45 minutes later
and I was back on the road, heading somewhere.I went east toward Longview, Texas, and eventually got headed north toward
Arkansas.I was back on track, although
on a different road than I’d originally intended to ride.Oh well.It really doesn’t matter, except that I had to stop and stay further
south than I’d intended, still in Texas.

Remember the saga of my friends
Joe and Verlie (my Phoenix bike’s foster parents) and the motor coach?This time as they were traveling someone came
up and told them their pickup truck they were pulling had come loose and was hanging
on by mere security chains.When they
stopped to check it, the truck rear-ended the motor coach.That truck is developing a nasty habit of
rear-ending other vehicles.That’s two.Anyway, the cotter pin or whatever it is that
attaches it to the hitch had come out, broken, whatever.But luckily, no damage other than a hole in
the coach bumper.But wait, there’s
more, and it hasn’t been good news on this trip.On their way from Medford, Oregon, to
Portland where Joe’s family reunion is, they blew a tire on the driver’s side
rear axle. While they got someone out to
repair it, they had to limp to a garage as the tire also took out the
transmission line and they were losing $80-a-gallon fluid.Some work, some welding, and they got back on the road and arrived at their campground/resort destination. At least they did
not have a wreck when the tire blew.They’ve been very lucky that way … only the vehicles have been damaged
in the making of this trip.But it’s all
been quite expensive, I’m sure.

On Tuesday morning (July 29), I
once again headed north and made it into Arkansas.It wasn’t too many miles and this mission was
accomplished, De Queen, Arkansas.

From there I continued north as I
wanted to go to Fort Smith, Arkansas.There
was something there I wanted photograph, the 30-foot-tall Mr. Peanut from
Planter’s Company.The statue was
originally a Peabody, Massachusetts, landmark, and I wanted a photo since I
have friends in Peabody and want them to see it.Maybe they remember it?It was restored and moved to the company’s
lawn in Fort Smith to live on in history.

Planter's Factory.

And Mr. Peanut.

There was another mission for the
day, the Toad Suck Harley shop in Conway, Arkansas.I rode I-40 to get there as I was starting to
fall a little behind where I wanted to be.What a name for a shop.Of
course, I need a shirt with this name.

“The Legend of
Toad SuckLong ago, steamboats traveled the Arkansas River when
the water was at the right depth. When it wasn't, the captains and their crew
tied up to wait where the Toad Suck Lock and Dam now spans the river. While
they waited, they refreshed themselves at the local tavern there, to the dismay
of the folks living nearby, who said: "They
suck on the bottle 'til they swell up like toads."
Hence, the name Toad Suck. The tavern is long gone, but the legend lives on.”(Taken from a website I found on Google.)

There’s also Toad Suck
Daze, a 3-day festival held on the streets of downtown Conway.It’s the first weekend in May if you’re
looking for something to do.

Heading north out of Conway, I
rode in beautiful hilly country, lush greenery and wonderful roads.Maybe I’ve been on this road before, maybe
not.It doesn’t matter as it’s not the
same as … north or south? every day like at home.It was a pleasant day’s ride and I ended up
in Harrison, Arkansas, about 30 miles south of Branson, Missouri.

I was trying to get to Mankato,
Minnesota, on Thursday to stay with my cousin, Kate.Kate had made arrangements for me to stay at
the convent campus where she lives.(Don’t get up-in-arms; I’m sure it would have been okay for me …
haha!!)But one of our hosts for the
reunion was admitted to the hospital and Kate had to leave early to help get everything
ready.So while I could still stay there
I chose to bypass it as I’d rather Kate be there to show me
around.Next time.

When I awoke on Wednesday (July
30), I waited just long enough to make sure there was some rain.I really hadn’t ridden in any rain, just a
shower or two, sometimes heavy, sometimes not.Today was the day.My mission was
to just keep heading north.I was not
supposed to be riding in rain, but it kept coming down, from a drizzle to
harder, bigger drops.Okay, in Branson I decided it
was time to gas up and gear up.

This vehicle was at the gas station ... half cab, half police car. Very unique. It sure gets your attention and I hope it works to get drunks home safely, as well as keep others safe from them.

Gearing up did
the trick as I only rode in about 35 more miles of it, 65 miles in all, really
nothing in the big scheme.At home we’d
be riding in it for days.Down here, you
often only ride for a short period of time, and this time I was grateful.It wasn’t cold, but it sure made for a dirty
bike and wet pants.I think my dark blue
pants leaked color onto my cream-colored butt pad Slider gave me last year.

The day got beautiful, and perfect for sightseeing. I've always been attracted to bales or rolls of hay. This was no different, but there was an added element.

This tribute to our country was right next to the rolls of hay. What a find, out in the middle of nowhere.

This is a better shot of two of the four statues. They were very impressive ... just on the top of the hill. I climbed up to take photos. Hope I didn't get chiggers this time.

I made a lunch stop in Sedalia,
Missouri, and used the extra time in not having to be in Mankato Thursday to
schedule a 35,000-mile-service.That
wasn’t as easy as I’d expected.I had to
call three shops.They were all booked
up, backed up and were dealing with Sturgis traffic.What?I’d forgotten.Yep, Sturgis.I got an appointment at Chipp’s
Harley-Davidson in Osceola, Iowa, for Thursday morning.Some of us visited this shop last year after
the 110th reunion in Milwaukee.I had wanted a shirt from here as it comes quite close to matching the
license plate on the cop bike, CHIPS1.So now I’ll have another.

Once I’d finished lunch and made the appointment my goal was to get to Osceola and overnight near the shop so I didn’t have to get up at daybreak to ride and be there by 9 a.m.That mission, too, was accomplished.Guess I’m just mission-oriented.

Sometimes ya just gotta turn around and go back and get that photo. I don't know how the person made this but it was beautiful and I went back to get this photo, turning around on a narrow two-lane road, which is always a challenge for me.

On the way, I again rode wonderful
roads.While State Highway 65 sometimes
is four-lane, or three when it’s got passing lanes, much of the time it is
two-lane, the kind you love to ride.This road had taken me through the hillls of Arkansas to the lushness of
Missouri to the agricultural fields of Iowa.I really enjoyed this ride, and stopped a time or two for photo
opportunities.

A roadside table set up to sell wares. It's good use of a power pole.

After all, I needed blog
fodder.I’ve seen Amish carriages, four
of them.I’ve always enjoyed seeing them.But I often wonder how they can
possibly survive in this day and age.There is so much “progress” and it must be difficult for their young
people with all the technology, vehicles and so on.

One of the places I stopped was Peter’s Market.The reason I stopped mainly was because they had fresh peaches, and I was sure wanting to sample a few.They had rows of different kinds of peaches, and it’s difficult to make a decision for only one kind, especially when you can only get one.I talked to some other folks on a bike and we decided to split a basket of them, so each of us got three.Perfect.(Plus the lady gave me a tip of something to look for … quilts on the side of barns, mostly in Iowa.)

Did you say peaches? How many kinds do you want? You want it, they've got it.

But there was so much more to Peter's.It was not merely a produce
stand, but a real market with jars of pickled this and that, apple butter, and
butters of all kinds, and the fruit?I’ve never seen fruit the size of the cantaloupes they had.WOW!!!

This is a full-blown store, with everything you need for a snack.

If you want something pickled, there are lots to choose from.

Have you ever seen cantaloupes this big? $2.99 each. Don't we pay nearly that per pound at home?

Then I found the ciders and
slushies.There was a peach-lemonade
slushie that I had to try.Talk
aboutrefreshing drink … this was IT!!!!I enjoyed my short stay, but then I was off again, landing in Osceola about a mile from the shop.

It was a great day of riding ... farmland, animals, produce stands. Fun, relaxing, the kind of ride day you dream of.

We spent Saturday morning in a
leisurely fashion … drinking coffee, talking, and trying out some Zumba CD’s Slider
had bought.We also replaced her
furnace/air conditioning filter up in the attic area and were a bit dewy.

I'd been up in that attic and couldn't find where to replace the filter. Slider could and did.

We worked so hard we needed a
reward so we had to get showered and hit the road.It was time for some shopping therapy.I had a couple of places I wanted to go …

I must have tried on 50 pairs of shoes to find a pair of sandals that felt good. My poor feet suffer and it's hard to find something that feels good. Usually they aren't the best looking, but these are Clark brand and look and feel good. You'll see. Maybe. I'm not sure if I'll bring them home or make them my Lower 48 sandals.

DSW
for a new pair of sandals, a couple of other places since I needed a family
reunion outfit and, most importantly, the Dirt Store.Don’t be fooled.The Dirt Store is only what we call it.It’s a nursery (Ron’s Organics … her husband)
with a boutique inside, called The Brown Eyed Girl.I love this place and the lady who owns and
runs it, Mona.She has unique items and
I never tire of looking, purchasing a few items and talking with her.Mission accomplished.

There's so much to look at at the Dirt Store ... beautiful, unique and things I never see at home. Of course, I don't do much shopping at home for these types of things. It's much more fun to come down here to either Texas or Arizona or anywhere to shop. The Lower 48 is where I do that ... different things ... and a present or two for others is always in good form.

We’d had lunch at a Souper! Salad!
But what was missing was … wait for it … frozen yogurt.I located a place online called Sweet Frog,
and we found it.Oh yes, delicious.It was quite good.They had cake batter frozen yogurt but no
fresh raspberries.I’m pleased to
announce that our frozen yogurt place, the Yogurt Lounge in Anchorage,
is the best I’ve had … although there may be a few others
to try.Home grown is my favorite.I think I’m becoming quite a connoisseur.

Cake batter frozen yogurt ... how can I resist? I can't.

Slider and I got up Sunday
morning, but it was just a nice day to relax, do laundry and talk.We don’t often talk on the phone so this has
to make up for a year’s worth of chatting.But in chatting we think maybe the long sleeves are making my sunburn
worse.She gave me a pair of socks and I
cut the feet out of them.I’ll use them
for my arms and put sunscreen under and maybe that will help.Armlets … the protection I hope will work.

Armlets ... hoping this works to keep my arms from blistering up each day. Blister and peel is not my idea of a good time.

We eventually decided we needed to
try a catfish place she likes, the Catfish Cove.It was quite good, and a lot of food.But I was still daydreaming about the brisket
I’d had on Friday.

All too soon it was time for me to
get back on the road … Monday, time to head for Minnesota.

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

I was up and moving.I’m being plagued by blisters on my sunburn and my dermatologist will
chastise me when she sees what I’ve done to my skin.I’ve done everything I can think of …
sunscreen, a long-sleeved shirt.But
still I’m blistering up and now starting to peel.This isn’t good.I have to be on the road, riding to my next
destination.

On Thursday, July 24, I was working my way across the few
short miles left of New Mexicoand
heading into Texas, my final destination to be Mesquite where my good friend,
Slider, is.My plan is to spend the
weekend since I don’t get to see her as often as I’d like.It’s nice to take a few days and to spend
time on the weekends as my friends aren’t working.Then they go back to work and I go back to my
job of riding Monday through Friday.Works for me.

There sure are a lot of trains in New Mexico.

The heat hasn’t been too bad.Propel in my water and ice in my drink has
helped a lot.Drinking more has improved
as I often have a problem drinking enough on trips.

Texas came into my headlights near Muleshoe.Interesting name, that.The city was founded in 1913 when the Pecos
and Northern Texas Railway built an 88-mile line from Farwell to Lubbock.The name Muleshoe is traced to a brand
registered in 1860, and a ranch supposedly named after the owner found a mule
shoe in the soil.

I also had to make another little side trip to find Jolly, Texas (for our friend, Dave Jolly). It's so small it took me a while and I couldn't even find a sign for the town itself. This would have to do.

I pretty much just rode, making miles toward my friend.But I had to make a photo stop … the Boston
Terrier Museum.

The Boston Terrier Museum in Floydada, Texas. I wish it had been open as it would have been fun to poke around in there. It was opened in 2007 by a husband and wife to showcase their collection of all things Boston Terrier. The collection (started in 1991) kept growing so to keep him out of trouble with his wife they opened the museum, a former hospital where many of the people who live in Floydada were born.

By the time I hit Wichita Falls, Texas, I figured it was
time to call it a day.The motel I ended
up at was called the Wayfarer’s Motor Inn. Do NOT, repeat DO NOT ever stay
here.This is in my top two worst
hotel/motels ever.I’m embarrassed that
I even stayed there.I did not sleep
well nor shower.Nuff said.

On Friday, July 25, I was going to meet up with Slider.We decided to meet in McKinney, on I-75.But, of course, I got sidetracked a little
bit.Along the way I saw a crop duster
dusting crops.I had to stop and take a
few photos.It was fascinating to watch
and the little plane was yellow.It was
a beautiful thing to watch.

He flew back and forth, and then he was gone, like a mere figment of my imagination. I so enjoyed watching this as he was like a pilot flying aerobatics, up, down, looping around.

When I got to McKinney, Slider and I had no trouble finding
each other.I pulled off the interstate
and pulled into a Lowe’s parking lot.I
checked my text messages.She was in the
next parking lot over at Home Depot.Great minds.

Hugs around, and then I was dying of heat … and it wasn’t
that hot.But there’d been an accident
that had slowed down the traffic and so I got in later than expected.

As we’d not eaten we went to a little barbecue place she’d
seen on the way to meet me.What a
place.The food, especially the brisket
that was fork-cutting friendly, was over-the-top, mind-blowing delicious … the place and
parking lot and drive through were packed.There’s your sign.

I know I posted this on Facebook, but it was so good ... what can I say?

On the way home we did the usual, I followed her … and we
took a couple of nice roads to stay off the main ones.There were some nice little curves and I was
enjoying the ride.I had my sheepskin butt
pad on and I needed to adjust it so I was sitting up and things felt a little
off … I wasn’t leaning into my bag on the back seat.I looked around to find that it was hanging
off the side of my bike with one nylon strap and a bungee cord.Oh man, I pulled over.That could have been a disaster, but I was
able to avert it.I can’t believe I
didn’t feel the unbalancing of the bike.That was probably a good thing as I probably just counterbalanced
without realizing it; otherwise, I could have been pulled over.

This whole incident scared me as the results could have been disastrous.

We got my bag secured in Slider’s
Cadillac and got to the barn.I unloaded
everything and looked at the strap.It
had broken.I’d seen a little slit in it
and the more I looked at it, the more I think it had been cut.I just bought this bag last summer so it doesn’t
have many miles on it.And I’ve NEVER
had a nylon strap break like this in the middle.I noticed it when I was packing for this
trip, so it must have happened during my spring ride.

Let the talking marathon
begin.Food, talk, talk and more talk. Then bed.I was tired and the nylon strap and more blistering has me stressed out
a bit.

Monday, July 28, 2014

I continue running along on my Lower 48 trip.A good thing since my Alaskan bike had an
issue (loud clunking noises and difficulty shifting in and out of gear) the day
before I left home to come down to Phoenix, Arizona, and on to points east,
south, north.The House of
Harley-Davidson picked it up and it’s on its way to recovery.The diagnosis is that a nut backed off
inside the transmission, and there went the transmission.Parts and pieces.It will be ready soon and waiting for me when
I return home.
﻿

A New Yorker ahead of me, a New Yorker behind me.

But back to my New Yorkers.We left Silver City and headed north and west on Highways 260, 78 and
then 191.What beautiful country we were
riding through, at least after we got out of the mining part with big
equipment, rock tunnels and a barrenness to it that is beautiful in its own way.

Mining country.

Kim in the tunnel.

Richard entering the tunnel behind me.

It's beautiful country, and perfect riding.

We were traveling mountain roads that have sheer drop offs,
rock walls, flowers, huge trees, and a smell to it that has you breathing
deeply breath-after-breath.It was
wonderful, even when we hit a rain shower.I wasn’t wearing a helmet or much and was thinking it was going to get
ugly.But as quickly as it appeared, it
disappeared.It’s not like home where
the rain lasts not an hour or two but for days.

We still had blue skies, no smoke here.

There's evidence of previous fires in the area.

Smoke in the distance rose like giant plumes over the mountains
and mixed with the clouds.I was hoping
we’d not be riding into a wild fire.The
smoke disappeared, but we found it again, multiple times, to the point of
smelling it and then riding through some of it.Luckily we were never threatened by the fire itself.

Yep, smoke found.

On we rode, 10 mph corners, 25, 35, 45 mph corners.The 45s are my favorite.My game is to not hit the brakes and to run
5-10 mph over the speed limit.Yep, a
test every time.

We took a break here ... would be fun to stay a night or so, Hannagan Meadows Lodge.

This one's for you, Biker Bill ... at the lodge.

Black clouds surrounded us and as we kept going it wasn’t
looking any better.Kim checked the Trip
Advisor app on her phone (which I now have) and there was a motel/restaurant
called the Largo Motel in Quemado, New Mexico.She noted that it had received good reviews.Off we went to find it.

When we arrived, it was exactly the kind of place Biker Bill
and I like to stay.A motel laid out so
you park outside your door and just walk in.The bike is in sight and it’s easy, breezy to load and unload the
bikes.And, best part, they told us to
park under the roof of the rooms, along the little walkway to protect the bikes
from the rain.Clean, an Internet
connection, and great water pressure in the shower.Yahoo.Yep, our favorite kind of place.

Biker Bill has a friend who lives nearby in Fence Lake so I
messaged him to see if he and his wife would like to join us for breakfast the
following morning.It appeared not, so I’d
have to try again the next trip.

We sat outside under the roof, talking and playing on the
computers, sorting photos and so on for a relaxing evening that never had a
heavy rain, lightning or thunder materialize.That was good for me although we were protected.I was so glad to have time to visit more as I
don’t know when I’ll next see these wonderful East Coast friends of mine.

Relaxing, working on the computers, chatting.

Wednesday (July 23) there was no sign of the
un-New-Mexico-type-weather we’d experienced the day before.It was a glorious day, which would only be
marred by separating from my friends.It
saddens me each time I leave someone behind, but we have to go on to the next adventure
… be brave, experience the new, ride to new levels …

As we loaded the bikes, prior to going to breakfast across
the parking lot, up rolls a midnight blue Harley trike.Who is that man behind the dark glasses?Haha!Our friend, Dave Bigdog Jolly.He
said it was only right if we’d ridden that far and asked to see him that he
ride 45 miles to meet us.Hell ya!!!

Dave Bigdog Jolly and his trike came to visit. A wonderful surprise.

Dave joined us for breakfast and we sat for a long time enjoying
the camaraderie.As Dave was running
some errands he would ride awhile with Rich and Kim.I, on the other hand, would only ride with
them for about a half mile, then I would head east while they rode in a
northerly fashion toward Durango, Colorado.

I watched them in front of me, going left while I kept going
straight on Hwy. 60 heading to Socorro, New Mexico.My plan was to go north on I-25 and then cut
over onto Hwy. 60 again and follow it to Clovis, New Mexico.

Squirrel!!!Sidetracked.I was running 60 and
I came upon these big dish-type antenna.I’ve ridden this way so many times.I’ve stopped and taken a photo or two, but I’ve never gone into the
visitor center.Should I, shouldn’t
I?Yep, this was the time I was going to
do it.

This is the VLA from a distance, before I decided to visit.

This was a fascinating place … the Karl G. Jansky Very Large
Array (VLA) Telescope.It’s named after
Karl Jansky who is considered the father of radio astronomy.He worked for Bell Laboratories and his job
was to track down radio noise that would interfere with their overseas wireless
communication devices.Instead he
surprised astronomers in 1933 by announcing that he had discovered radio waves
coming from the Milky Way.

The VLA has been the hardest
working telescope on earth since 1980, watching the skies day and night for
astronomers around the world.It’s a
22-mile wide telescope made up of 27 dish antennas, which is what I see every
time I go by here.Each dish is
82-feet-across and weighs 230 tons.

These things don't look so big, but they are huge.

The purpose of the VLA is to do research on the nature of
the universe … how did it begin, how big is it, how old and so on.It was built during the 70s but currently is
being updated to make it 10 times more powerful, allowing astronomers to study
distant cosmic objects that currently cannot be seen.It will then be called the EVLA (Expanded
Very Large Array).

The 70s design used waveguide, a stainless steel pipe with
wire wound inside it.With the EVLA the
waveguide will be replaced with fiber optics, resulting in an increase a
hundred times over in the amount of data that can be brought back from the
antenna.

There's also a sun dial at the VLA.

And on one of the sun dial pieces, imagine what I found. I am not sure, guess it's graffiti. But ... SWEET!!

I probably shouldn’t have made a stop, but it was something
I’d wanted to do every time I’d followed Hwy. 60.I’ve always been in a hurry, going to or from
somewhere else, and in a rush. I’m glad
I made the stop.

Yep, very glad indeed.

Once I’d made the run on I-25 and on to 60 I wasn’t so sure
about my decision to stop.In the
mountains toward Mountainair, New Mexico, there were dark clouds, not just here
and there, not just gathering.I rode
until I saw lightning and hit some rain.Hmmmm.Time to turn around, go
back and go up I-25 further until I hit I-40 and go east to get around it.Not so fast.I did just that, but never made it to I-40.

I’d gassed up and was told there was something happening up
the road and traffic was at a standstill.I also heard that maybe the rain had passed so I backtracked and went
back to 60 east.Nope.No rain at all now, although I could see
where it had rained pretty hard.Yep,
golden right now.

While I didn’t get to Clovis, New Mexico, which is where I’d
planned to be, I stopped only 60 miles short for the night.It was a good decision.I was tired and needed to get off the bike.

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Monday (July 21) dawned bright and beautiful as it seems to most days
in Arizona.I had two missions.One was to meet up with the New Yorkers, Kim
and Richard, in Silver City, New Mexico.The other was to find the bus with Verlie.There had been other problems and it was
parked down off the road and Joe had gone to Phoenix to get some part repaired
and get other things needed for the bus to try to nurse it to Las Vegas,
Nevada, to a place that had worked on it and knew the bus and its parts and
pieces inside and out.She was about 18
miles down Highway 260, which was the way I was going anyway.

Of course, the saga of the motor coach didn’t end there. I found out the bus would not start at the
Walmart on Saturday morning until two hours later and then Joe had rear ended a
guy at a stop light on his way into town.Then his engine light on the pickup came on.Good grief.If there was no luck on this trip, there would be none at all.

I got to 260 and then started watching the mile markers …
yep, there was the road she described and down it I went.There was the bus parked just outside the
training camp for the Arizona State University football team. Woo hoo.Alas, there were no young bucks in sight. But if you’re going to be broke down
somewhere, what a beautiful setting.Huge trees that stretched to the end of your sight with a smell that
made you think you were in the middle of nowhere, and no traffic except for the
occasional vehicle going in or out of camp.It was beautiful.

No access for me.

The beautiful setting, and the perfectly paved spot for the coach.

So, into the bus I
went.We visited and Verlie fixed me
lunch.Jazzy, their little Yorkie, had
to tease me with jumping into my lap and out.What a short memory she has … pretending she doesn’t know me.Ha!!!

Jazzy and me in a beautiful setting.

All too soon I needed to get back on the road as I’d been
there a couple of hours and I would lose an hour going into New Mexico.It was hard to leave Verlie there alone, but
Joe would soon be on his way back.

On I rode, making time, avoiding any rain clouds, and I
rolled into Silver City about 6 p.m. and found the hotel where Kim had reserved
rooms for us.It was the historic Murray
Hotel and I loved it.

The Murray Hotel opened in October 1938, named after William Dennis Murray.

I was backing my
bike in next to theirs and down the sidewalk runs Richard.Oh man, it was so good to see him.I love my New Yorkers.We hugged and got my luggage to my room and
then went back to where Kim was.It was
another joyous reunion.I think the New
Yorkers are even louder in their greetings and happiness than I am.

The Little Toad Creek was where Kim and Rich were sitting when I went by.

We had dinner and a wonderful visit.I decided then that rather than go visit my
swan at the Baton Rouge Zoo on this leg of the trip, I’d travel with Kim and
Rich for a day as they headed north toward Farmington, New Mexico, for a bike
service.Rich was coming up on 105,000
and desperately needed a rear tire.

Friday, July 25, 2014

There’s always another adventure just around the corner, and
this trip, to date, has been no exception.

I arrived in Phoenix, Arizona, Thursday morning, July 17.Joe was picking me up at the airport and
he’d said if I didn’t have too much luggage he could do it on the bike.I made sure I brought only camera gear, my
computer, my phone, medications and make up.It did not take up much room.

As I wandered to baggage claim, I was texting Joe to find
out where he was.I was just finishing
up and I looked out the window and there he was parked next to the curb, the
big silver and copper-toned Ultra Limited motorcycle, my ride and my chauffer
awaiting my arrival.Too cool.

It's nice to be picked up in style.

We loaded my stuff, then I loaded my butt onto the bike and
off we went.What a glorious day to
ride, even on the back.We headed home
to drop my things off, pick up my bike and go do some shopping, including
getting Systane eye drops.Later I found
out I didn’t really need them as I already had two bottles in my belongings at
their house.Oh well, I can always use
them.(Of course, I lost that bottle for
a while, too.)

Later at the house we awaited Verlie’s arrival (from
work).Their plan was to leave in their
motor coach the following evening after she got off work as they were going to
Colorado to visit her mom, then to a family reunion in Oregon.Part of the reason to leave at night was so
the bus wouldn’t have to work so hard to go up the hills like it would during
the heat of the day.That evening we
loaded some, did a bit of cleaning up and readied ourselves as best we could
for the following day.My plan was to
follow them to Payson, or wherever they chose to spend the night, stay the
night in the coach with them, and then head to Sun City on Saturday to visit
with the Peeps for the weekend.

We be loading and getting ready to rock and roll.

On Friday Joe was busy loading things into the motor coach,
I helped him wash it, and when Verlie got home we did some last minute
loading.We were quite the caravan … the
45-foot-long, 45,000-pound coach (loaded) pulling a loaded 4,500-pound pickup
truck and me following on the bike.

Washy, washy.

If I don't look while I'm rinsing then if I get Joe he can't complain to me, right? Sorry, didn't see you Ha ha.

The pickup adds something to the caravan effect.

I'm loaded up and ready to get on the road.

Out of town we went, leaving maybe 8 p.m. or so.I followed behind, sometimes close, sometimes
not so.Once we hit Highway 87, it was
pretty nice, no stoplights.But when we
hit the hills, I finally reached my point of having to pass them.They were running about 30 mph, so naturally,
with it being a good road with nice easy sweeping turns, I needed to get by and
ride, even if it was night time.There
wasn’t much traffic so it was great, and I kind of wasn’t fearing animals too
much, but I was very aware that I needed to be watchful.

At one point I pulled over to wait for them to come up the
hill.They didn’t come, they didn’t
come, they didn’t come.It was dark with
no traffic and I could see a long ways, but there weren’t many lights.A vehicle passed me and pulled over to the
side of the road in front of me, maybe 10 car lengths away.No one got out, no one backed it up, no one
hollered out of it.Time for my left
turn signal and an entrance back onto the road.I didn’t like that.

I ran slow, and when cars came up behind me I’d use my
flashers to make sure they saw me.Still
no motor coach or Joe and Verlie.Wow,
that honking big thing is sure slow.

A car was pulled over to the side of the road with a guy out
by it … and he hollered “broke down” as I went by.Hey, sorry, I don’t know you and I’m not
stopping.I’m not mechanical so it’s not
like I could help anyway … and I’m highly suspicious of things like that.I kept on going as I’d decided to get into
Payson and call them to find out where they were.A car went by (the same one broke down by the
side of the road).A guy was hanging out
of the window and he said, “Your friends in the RV are broke down back
there.”Oh.

I stopped and they stopped.They told me Joe and Verlie were broken down about Mile 217.I was at about 230 or so.I went down the road looking for a place I
felt safe so I could pull over and call them.I found it … some buildings, businesses.So I pulled into the parking lot and pulled around facing out.

Verlie answered the phone and told me what had
happened.The bus overheated, and went
black.Nothing was on, no lights, no
flashers, no power steering.Joe was
able to get the coach pulled over toward the side of the road but the back end
of the pickup was in the other lane … no flashers and people whizzing by
narrowly missing the vehicles and hollering at them horrible things and telling
them to get the vehicle off the road, like they’d intended to park in the
middle of the highway?Good grief!!!

A man in a vehicle stopped behind Joe and Verlie’s vehicles
and put on his flashers.From what I
heard he was wanting people hollering at them to come back so he could kick
their a$$es.That’s kind of funny.NOW!!

Verlie and I decided I’d go on to the Walmart in Payson and
wait in the parking lot as that was where they would try to get.I wandered in to Walmart and got a few
things, and sat on my bike outside.It’s
quite friendly with a community of motor homes gathered there.I got to meet a Harlequin Great Dane named
Hercules who had ears nearly as soft as a Beagle’s and a man and his son who
ride.So it was not bad and actually
entertaining, and the bus pulled in probably an hour after I’d gotten
there.

I got on my bike and over to the coach and we hugged and
were glad everyone had made it safely although they’d had to stop several times
coming up the hills to add water and let the engine cool off.Joe said he was glad I’d not been there when
the bus broke down as they’d both thought someone would hit their vehicles and
they’d be killed.What a night.We finally got to bed, but it had been quite
an adventure with a lot of excitement … and it wasn’t a good kind, only the
kind that stresses you out.

Joe is a mere fraction of himself. He's been bicycling 30 miles a day. Wow.

Their Yorkie, Jazzy. She's a sweet baby.

Perked coffee, yum.

The motor coach kitchen, one side, complete with decorative flowers.

On Saturday morning we got up and I eventually headed back
down Highway 87 to go to the Peeps (Judi and Ken) in Sun City.

Packing up ... goodbye Walmart parking lot.

It was a great ride going down through the
big curves in the day time.But I had to
stop at Joe and Verlie’s because I’d gotten up and remembered I’d forgotten to
bring a jacket and I’d probably need it going to Minnesota.Crap.I picked it up, and then remembered I hadn’t put on any sunscreen.Too late.Burned.And I’d forgotten my Spot
Tracker that is in the house.I can’t
get to it.Guess I’ll just have to post
on Facebook.

I got to the Peeps about 2 p.m. and spent a couple of nice
and relaxing days.We had some wonderful
meals (including at the Cheesecake Factory, wish we had one), and had Auntie
Lavon with us.We played cards, a game
that Ken beats us at every time, and I slept in.

Mama and baby quail ... they're so cute.

Hummingbirds are always around sipping from the fountain.

We watched hummingbirds and quail and their
babies and other birds.And Judi and I
talked for hours on Sunday, never getting dressed until late-afternoon.Yahoo.But then it was time to get on the road again.